Finishing welt



May 10, 1932 R. c. scHEMMEL FINISHING WELT Filed Feb. 7, 1930 attonaeqsPatented May 10, 1932 UNITED STATES ROBERT C. SCHEMMEL, OFUNION' CITY,INDIANA FINISHING- `.Application lediFebruary 7, 1930.H Serial No.426,643.

My invention relates to finishing welts, that is to say, to that-type oftrimming strip which is extensively-used to cover the meeting edges ofupholstery fabric of furniture and to trim the edges of coveringmaterials in automobile bodies and tops which is characterized by astrip of covering Amaterial folded upon itself to provide at least onelongitudinal bead or looped portion containing W a filler-of appreciablethickness.

More particularly, my invention relates to a welt having a novel type offiller for the beads of the enclosing fabric. According to standardpractice finishing welts of the types.

l5 to which my invention pertains are constructed to be relatively fiat,having an appreciable thickness-which is considerably less than thewidth of the strip. A- preferred design'employs a substantially halfround filler.

for one of the beads o f the welt,- so that the width of ythis ller isat least twice as great as its thickness or height. The filler iscommonlydisposed in its bead with its fiat, plane face down against the'base of the welt and its curved or cylindrical surface uppermost, andsince it is necessary in practically every installation'to dispose thewelt about a short curve in the plane of a'straightaway length of welt,serious difiiculty has been encounnegotiate shortgcurves with aminimum'ef buckling.` Apart from its liability to harden and deterioratewith age, rubber has been found to be functionally a successful and efiy ficient welt filler material, but commercially ithas not been asuccess because of its high cost.-

i provide a welt havingv fillers formed of a materlal which is capableofl dispositionabout curves of an exceedingly short radius withoutbuckling and which vmaybe pro-l duced at a minimum-cost.

vgive firmness and .body to the welt.

tered with these welts of theprior art `be- It is any object of mypresent invention toI It is a further -object to provide a welt havingfillers exhibiting these desirable curving characteristics and alsohaving the hardness and smoothness of surface necessary to Other andfurther objects and advantages of `welts constructed in accordance withthe principles of my present-invention willV be suiiiciently apparent asthe description pro ceeds.

One form of embodiment of my invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings and described in the following specification, andthe invention will be hereinafter more particularly pointed out in theappended claims;

In the drawings which form part of this application for Letters Patent,and in which like reference characters designate the same parts in theseveral views,

'Figure 1 is a perspective view, with one end in cross section, of ashort-section of the tubular structure the formation of which Aconstitutes an initial step in the production of my new welt filler;lFig. 2 is a similar view of a completed welt .err

` Fig. 3 is a similar view of a completed welt filler of a 'differentcontour, which in one form` of; welt is adapted tocoact with the type offillershown in Fig. 2; and

Fig. @is a-perspective view, with one end in section, of afinishedwelt'v formed out of the novel fillers.

Referring now to the-drawings, 1 indicates one of the strands of twistedfibrous material, preferably paper, which constitute the componentelements of my novel filler.' These strands are formed by tightlytwisting relatively narrow strips of paper into a substantially.cylindrical shape, and then a plurality of the strands are plaitedor-braided into the tubular structure shown in Fig. 1. The number of thestrands to be used varies 0f course with their individual diameters, and95 with the size of the filler which is to be made.

he tubular structure of Fig. l which may or may not be treated with asuitable sizing compound, is formed directly into the desired type offiller. In Figs. 2 and 3 I have illusj 69. It willbe apparent that allthe advantages Y of the welt in trated the two shapes offiller whichare' necessary to the production of the welt which forms the subject ofUnited States Letters- Patent No. 1,743,624, issued to me on J anuary14, 1930; It will benoted that these their specific shape is immaterialt'o the present invention, since the particular form of the filler isdependent only upon the design achieved by using different dies, rollersor other means -in the filler forming bperation which will now bedescribed.

'.lhereqiiiredl shape of the finished filler is .attained by forcingthe' tubular structure of Fig. 1 through a suitable die afterthe mannerof well understood wire forming or I ubberextruding operations. In theal-x ternative, the tubular stock may be passed between pressurelrollers having their` s urfaces preferably shaped to give thedesiredform to the issuingproduct. Thus, if the filler shown in Fig. 2 is to beproduced, one of the rollers will'be Aa true (cylinder, and thecooperatingV roller will be rvprovided `with a concave surface. To formthe'iller of Fig. 3 one, convex .and one concaveroller are-used, and soon," as will be readily understood. The specific mannerv off convertingthe tube of Fig. 1 intol the desired filler forms no part of my presentinvention, and it is to be understood that any practical and operativemeans `or method may be employed.

In addition to glving the required shape to the resulting filler, oneeffect Aof the forming operation is to compact thejtubular structure. bycompressinglits component'strands into intimate .contact with eachother, to form a-relativelydiard and smooth surfaced is well adapted tobe enclosed in a covering strip 2 of any well known welt fabric, as

l shown in Fig'. 4,'to provide a completed welt structure, the hardnessofthe compressed assembly of strands giving the desired rm body Vto thewelt, and the substantially smooth surface of the filler providing apractically unbroken foundation for the covering material, so that theouter appearance of the welt containingmy braided ,llers is in allrespects equal to that of welts made with molded or twisted single piecellers.:

of the' old type of welts having singlel piece ,fillers inhere in my newwelt when used along Fa. straightaway. It 1s, however,

around turnsof short radius that the peculiar advantages of my new weltappear. When which` it is to be used, andis vfiller within the broadcally to rearrange their relative positions by slidingon each other todispose themselves about the curve without appreciably increasing thearea of any cross section through the curved portion.

The practical result of this manner of oper ation is to eliminate thehighly objectionable buckling .and puckering. of the welt about shortcurves that characterizes welts made with one piece solid fillers ofinexpensive, non-resilient material and to giveto the welt alltheefficiency in curve turning ability that has heretofore been attainedonly by the use of expensive rubber` fillers. I

While it is true that-the problem of puckering and buckling 'aroundshort curves is encountered more especially in welts having: fillerswhich are greater in width than in v welts, .-it is nevertheless to beunderstood that my lnventionin its broader aspects contemplates theinclusion in any kind of welt of a the appended claims.

' Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent scope and purview of 1s: i d

u 1. bead filler for finishing welts and the like comprising a pluralityof individual ystrandsof relatively hard material braided together andcompacted to form a body having a relativelyhard and smooth surface,theindividual strands beingl capable/I of slight relative slidingmovement whereby the braided assembly opens up along its inner edgeYwhen'the filler is flexed around a curve. filler, as shown in Figs. 2and 3. Such a filler A 2. A bead filler .for finishing welts and thelike comprising a pluralityy ofrelatively hard individual strands oftightly twisted fibrous material braided together and compacted to 3. Abead filler for finishing welts and the like comprisinga plurality ofrelatively hard individual strands of tightly twisted paper braidedtogether'and compacted to form .a body having a relatively hard andsmooth surface, the individual strands being capable of slight relativesliding' movement whereby the braided assembly opens up along its inneredge when the filler is iexed around 8 curve. 4. The method of making abead filler for finishing welts and the like which consists in braidingtogether a plurality of individual strands to provide a substantiallytubular hollow assembly, and then subjecting the braided assembly topressure to compact the strands together into a hard, resistant and 10smooth surfaced bodyhaving the contour of a welt filler.

5. The method of making a bead filler for finishing welts and the likewhich consists in twisting a strip of paper to form a relatively hardround cord, braiding together a plurality of such cords to rovide aVsubstantially tubular hollow assem ly, and then subjecting the assemblyto pressure to compact the strands together into a relatively hard,resistant and smooth surfaced body having th contour of a welt liller.

6. The method of making a bead filler for finishing welts and the likewhich consists in braiding together a plurality of relatively hardstrands to provide a substantially tubular hollow assembly, and thensubjecting the assembly to pressure to form a solid, relatively hard,smooth surfaced, half-round body.

v In testimony whereof I aiix my signature.

' ROBERT C. SCHEMMEL.

